Vianne Rocher (Juliette Binoche) and her young daughter move to a rural conservative French town and open a chocolate shop. The town is run by the mayor Comte de Reynaud (Alfred Molina) who is a traditionalist. He is not amused by Vianne's life and her ideas. They start to fight for the soul of the town. Then a band of gypsies comes to town with the sexy Roux (Johnny Depp).
It's a slow moving story. It has its charms, and Juliette Binoche is as lovely as ever. The actors are all great. Although Lena Olin is miscast as an abused wife. The role needs a more mousy actor. Lena is way too powerful for the role.
The movie is a sort of talky lyrical erotic fable, and it starts with the glow that Binoche gives off. The comedy is fleeting. The battle between Reynaud and Rocher doesn't have the needed tension. It does have heart. But the pacing is slow for a two hours movie. Johnny Depp is a cool river traveling musician, and comes in a little too late in the movie. When he comes in after almost half of the movie over, he mostly distracts. Overall, this movie is a little too slow for my taste.
It's a slow moving story. It has its charms, and Juliette Binoche is as lovely as ever. The actors are all great. Although Lena Olin is miscast as an abused wife. The role needs a more mousy actor. Lena is way too powerful for the role.
The movie is a sort of talky lyrical erotic fable, and it starts with the glow that Binoche gives off. The comedy is fleeting. The battle between Reynaud and Rocher doesn't have the needed tension. It does have heart. But the pacing is slow for a two hours movie. Johnny Depp is a cool river traveling musician, and comes in a little too late in the movie. When he comes in after almost half of the movie over, he mostly distracts. Overall, this movie is a little too slow for my taste.